Trial Opens In Policeman’s Death

Seattle Police Officer Antonio Terry was shot and killed because he was a cop, a prosecutor argued Monday as the trial opened for two men accused in Terry’s slaying.

Eric Smiley, 26, and Quentin Ervin, 18, are charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the June 1994 killing of Terry, who prosecutors say stopped to help three people in a stalled car when he was gunned down.

Terry was not in uniform at the time, and attorneys for Smiley and Ervin have said he did not identify himself as a police officer when he stopped. Defense attorneys have said Terry fired first, and their clients shot in self-defense.

Prosecutors say Terry had stopped to help Smiley, Ervin and another teenager on June 6, 1994, near an Interstate 5 exit in Seattle, believing their car had stalled.

After one of the suspects identified Terry as a police officer, Ervin fired four rounds from a .22-caliber pistol, prosecutors allege. Terry then fired four rounds from his .38-caliber revolver, one of which struck Ervin in the shoulder.

Prosecutors say Ervin then handed the gun to Smiley, who fired three rounds from the .22-caliber pistol.Smiley and Ervin face life in prison without parole if convicted. Prosecutors decided against seeking the death penalty.